So, the Occupy Wall Street protest has grown exponentially across the country and around the world. As it became apparent to me that this was not a fleeting thing and that people had finally had enough and are ready to fight for real change, I have become swept up in it as well. I’m finding that this is the most political I’ve ever gotten. I protested the war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it felt like we were helpless to do anything. But now the feeling is different. And so, I’m getting more involved. I’ve joined the local Occupy movement, offering my particular talents to the cause. I’m looking forward to Saturday, the 15th, as we join communities all across the country standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in New York.

This has become personal for me. At the beginning of this recession, I was laid off as my job was outsourced overseas. I was lucky to find my current job (at a lower pay rate) and was only unemployed for 6 weeks. Others have not been so lucky. I see folks everyday who have lost their jobs and have not been able to find employment that will allow them to make ends meets, who are struggling to pay their bills, who are forced to choose between food and medicine. And it’s getting worse. The conservative powers that be, if allowed to have their way, intend to cut the already meager funding to vital programs that have, so far, barely helped folks to scrape by.

So we are gathering together to show them what Democracy looks like.

I am not against corporations…I am against the personhood of corporations and the idea that freedom of speech can be granted to them to benefit their stockholders without regard to their employees or their customers or the community.

I am not against corporations making a profit…I am against corporations making obscene profits at the expense of people’s jobs, homes, and lives.

I am not against banks…I am against financial institutions, having been deregulated, taking unethical risks with our money that causes the destabilization of our economy and economies around the world.

I am not against the government…I am against the system that allows corporations and the super-rich to have a disproportionate influence on politicians who we have elected to represent us, the people.

I am not against paying taxes…I am against a bloated tax code full of loopholes that enables corporations and the super-rich to pay a lower tax rate than their employees.

I am not against defense…I am against the creation of artificial conflict urged by the corporations against people who happen to have what we want, while all the while conducting business with those same countries.

I am not against Capitalism…I am against corporate greed.

I am not against Democracy…I am against not being represented.

This is our country…we will occupy it. These are our streets…we will occupy them. We are here. We are growing. We are the 99%.

If you don’t know what’s going on or what we’re talking about, turn off the news and tune into the movement. The revolution will not be televised.

www.occupywallst.org
www.occupytogether.org

~)-{ In peace and solidarity…
rob